Machine for separating the plies of twisted rope



July 2s, 1925. I V 1,547,509

W. J. MCCARTHY Y MACHINE FOR SEPARATING THE PLIES ATWISTED ROPE Original Filed July 31.1923

ATTORWEY Cil Patented July 28, 1925.

UNITED stares aIsNI oFF-ice.

WILLIAM: a. r/Iecnn'rnn, or netsnoer, MASSACHUSETTS, fassronon, BY Ivinsnn nssIeIvr/Innrs, fro contouren nora coisrnny, oF BOSTON, Massacnosnrrs, A oo-n- Ionnrion on MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE -FOR SEPARATING THE PLIES OF TXVSTED ROTE.

Application iled July 3 1, v195,23, rSerial No. 654,878. Renewed ,Tune l, 1925.

T 0 all whom 15 may concern.'

Be it known that l, `WILLIAM J. MoGAn'rrIY, a citiaenof the United States, residing at Roxbury, inthe county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Machines for Separating the Plies of Twisted Rope, `of which the following is a specification.

This invention krelates to machines for separating the plies of twisted rope that has been discarded, whereupon the separated plies are made into salable rope of smaller sizes.

ITwisted ropes of all sizes, and especially the large hawsers from ocean liners and other large water craft, are ldiscardedY before worn out and a .considerable industry could thrive on untwisting this rope and remaking it. The commercial practice at present is to separate the plies by hand, a tedious and expensive operation.

The object of the present invention is to provide mechanical means for separating the plies of twisted rope, that is inexpensive and simple in its operation, and .can be attended by a. single operator notwithstanding the fact that the largel hawsers to be operated upon run to two hund-red feet and more in length.

To the accomplishment of this object, and such `others as may hereinafter appear as will readily be understood by those skilledin the art, the invention comprises the features and combinations of par-ts hereinafter described and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The preferred form of the invention is shown 'in the accompanying drawing, the single figure of which shows the machine in perspective, as it appears in the rope-walk or other work-room where the rope separating Aoperation is to .takeV place. In the .drawing'breaks occur in the delineation, at intervals, to indicate the greatlength of vthe lar-ger pieces of work.

ln theemfbodiment'of. the invention illus-V trated in the draaving a duplex machine or apparatus is shown providing means for' handling to advantage both .the larger and smaller sizes of' rope. As illustrated, the portion of the machine for uli-twisting a large hawser is being used and the invention will be explained in connection with its Inode of operation on a rope of this character- Spaced side by side down the room for the length desired, say two hundred feet, are a series of horses Q which support a rope trough l. The trough is blocked up on the horses in any1 convenient manner, to maintain 1t in immovable position, and hasiopen ends. The trough is quite flat, the angle between its sides being preferably about 1500, for a purpose that will appear later.

At one c nd of the trough l is a frame supporting two shafts andS, the journals of which are so arranged on the support that the axes of the shafts are parallel, andthe trough isplaced in alignment with one of said shafts. The shafts 6 and 8 are provided with rope engaging hooks 10 and 12 respectively, which may be of different sizes. After the hawser has been laid in the trough one end is secured to the hook 10. In the drawing the end of the hawser has been whipped and the hook then forced between the plies forward of the whipping, but any suitable or convenient Inode .of attaching the hawser to the hook may be employed. i

The forward end ofthe hawser is unt-wisted by hand for a short 4distance. and the three separated plies, of the illustrated hawser, are `secured to a draw-bar 14 which be about seven feet long. Fastened at each end, and centrally, of this bar, are swivels 16 .of ,any usual construction. Each swivel is provided with a device suitable for hold-ing ra ply end i'irmly therein. Assho-w-n, these are wedge hooks 18 into which .the cxtreme end ,of the ply can 4be jammed and thu-s held against withdrawal. The swivels are of extreme importance, as will be understood those skilled in the art.

It will be understood that as the rope unt'wist-s, it lengthens, and inorder to keep the plies .taut a running' draw-rope 2O is connected to the forward side of the draw-bar and extends under afguide sheave 22K, on a stand 24; and then up to ja drum 26, on an {Overheadshaft 28. The draw-rope. is held tau-t and wound on the drum, as the lhawser plies are sep arated, by mechanism which will .no-w he described. 'Guides 30 are -provideeh .011 whichv the drawjbar 14 travels as it advances, thus prevengting the rotating hawser from moving it out QO itS llOIzZOIl'Cll .19121113 'a5 sho-wn in Ithe drawing.

26, thus continuously pulling the draw-bar Cil r machine.

14 forward and keeping the untwisted plies of the hawser taut. `With a hawser of the length indicated the draw-bar would travel twenty or Ymore feet before the operation is completed.

It will be observed that the shaft 28 is parallel to `the draw-bar and the weight cord drum 38 is fixed on a sleeve 40, loose on an overhead shaft 4t2, parallel to the shaft 2S but at the other or power end of the work room. The sleeve is provided at one end with the movable member 44 of a clutch of any convenient construction, .the fixed member 46 of which is fasten the shaft Ll2. The shaft 412 is continuously rotated by bevel gears 4:8 from the power shaft 50 which car-` ries two pairs of fast and loose pulleys 52 and 54C from which belts run to, and drive, pulleys 56 and 58 fixed respectively on the hook carrying shafts 6 and 48 hereinbefore first referred to. Only one belt 60 for rotating the shaft 8, is illustrated.

The movable clutch member 44; is slid on the sleeve l0 by means of a pivoted bellcrank 62 having one arm connected thereto in the usual manner and having a spring 64 connected to its other arm for normally maintaining the clutch disconnected. A cord 64k runs forward from the spring held end of the bell-crank, over conveniently located idle sheaves 66, and terminates in a depending control 67 at the operating station of the At this station there is a second depending control 68 which leads over an idle sheave 70 to the active end of a pivoted` locking dog 7 2 which may be moved thereby into engagement with the teeth of a ratchet 711 on the ratchet sheave 36. A spring 7 6 is connected normally to maintain the locking dog free of the ratchet.

In operating the machine, after a hawser has been hooked on the hook 6 and the un wound plies attached to the swivel hooks 18 the power may be thrown in by shifting the belt 60, by a suitable belt shifter, not shown in the drawing. Atthis time the draw-rope is unwound from its drum 26, and the weightcord is wound upon its drum 38, the clutch is disconnected and the locking dog is dis` engaged from its ratchet 74:. The power will rotate the hook 10 in a directionto untwist the hawser in the trough and as the length of the hawser increases the weight descends keeping the separated plies taut. The swivels 16 permit `the severalplies to rotate individually and eventually the two outer plies ride up over the shallow sides of the trough leaving only the central ply therein. The untwisting continues automatically and rapidly until the end whip ping is reached when the power is shut 0E and the separated plies disconnected from their holding devices.

In order to wind up the weight cord on its drum 38 for a succeeding operation the power is again applied and the clutch connected. The rotating drum 38 rapidly lifts the weight and when it has been completely raised the clutch is disconnected.` In order to hold the weight in its raised position,

until the new hawser has been connected to the hook 10 and draw-bar 14, the control 68 is pulled which causes the locking dog t0 engage its ratchet and preventrotation of the shaft 28 `under the influence of the lifted.

weight. On releasing the locking dog after the hawser has been connected, the weight is i i illustrated. The draw-bar guides 'for the light rope are not shown in the drawing but it will be understood that the `operation is carried out in the manner hereinbefore described.

. The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and itspreferred form having beeny specifically described, what is claimed as new, is

1. A machine for separating the plies of twisted rope having, in combination, a rotary device for engaging one end of the rope, a movable device for engaging the several separated plies at the other end of the rope, means for maintaining the untwisting rope taut, and means permitting each ply to rotate individually.

2. A. machine for separating the plies of twisted rope having, in combination, a drawbar, a plurality of swivels secured to said draw-bar, means for attaching the several plies at one end of the rope to` said swivels, Y

separately engaging the several plies of the rope at its other end, means for maintaining the rope taut between said two engaging means, means for rotating the rope in a direction to separate its plies, and means permitting the plies severally to rotate in the same direction.

4. A machine for separating the plies of twisted rope having, in combination, means attached to one end of the rope 'for rotating the rope in a direction to untwist it, a device attached to the several plies of the rope at its other end for holding said plies separated, means for causing said device to travel forwardly in a single plane as the rope untwists, and means permitting the several plies to rotate individually as said device moves forward.

5. fr machine for separating the plies ot twisted rope having, in combination, means for rotating the rope in a direction to separate the plies thereof, and means for preventing the several plies from kinling as they are separated.

6. A machine for separating the plies of twisted rope having, in combination, means 'for supporting the rope throughout its length except at its ends, rotary means engaging one end of the rope having its axis of rotation in alignment therewith, tension means attached to the other end of thek rope by individual engagement with the several plies thereof, and means constraining said tension means to travel substantially in the plane ot said supportl as the rope is untwisted.

7. A machine for separating the plies of twisted rope having, in combination, a rope untwisting device attached to one end of the rope, a draw-bar at the other end thereof having the several plies attached individually thereto, a draw-rope, a weight for maintaining said draw-rope taut, and power .means for raising the weight after the rope has been mitwisted.

8. A machine lor separating the plies of twisted rope having, in combination, a rope unt-wisting device attached to one end of the rope, a draw-bar at the other end thereof having the several plies attached individually thereto, a draw-rope, a drum on which said draw-rope is wound, a weight for rotating said drum to maintain the draw-rope taut,

, means for raising the weight after the operation on the rope is completed, and means for holding the drum from rotating until another rope is secured to said untwisting device and draw-bar.

9. A machine 'it-or separating theplies of twisted rope having, in combination, a rotary hoolr for engaging one end of the rope, a device for engaging separately the several plies at the other end ot the rope, a weight connected and arranged to maintain the rope taut, a drum on which the weight rope is wound, a normally disconnected clutch between said drum and a power driven part of the machine, and manually operated means for connecting said clutch at the will et' the operator.

10. A mac-hinefor'separating the plies oit a three ply twisted rope having, in combinal tion, a shallow-trough for receiving and' supporting the rope, a rotary hool; in alignment with the trough for engaging one end of the rope, a draw-bar having three swivels in horizontalV alignment to which the several plies at the other end of the rope are individually secured, means for maintaining the rope taut, and means for rotating the hook, whereby the swivels will also rotate as the pliesseparate and the two outer plies will ride up over the sides ot the shallow trough leaving the centrally connected ply in the trough.

11. A machine for separating the plies ot twisted rope having, in combination, rotary means adapted to be attached to one end of the rope ior twisting it in a direction tending to separate its plies, and means adapted to be attached to the several plies at the other end of the rope for simultaneously nullifying the twist imparted to the separated plies by the operation of said rotary twisting means.

12. A machine for separating the plies of twisted rope having, in combination, ine-ans for rotating one end of the rope in a direction to untwist its plies, and means permitting the several plies to rotate freely during the operation of said rope rotating means, whereby each ply is in an untwisted state after the separating operation is completed.

WILLIAM J. MGCARTHY.

, i en 

